Native American Biographies: Colorado Ute Chiefs: Colorow and Ouray

Colorow was chief of the Yampa Band of the Ute Nation.  The occupied the area around the Yampa River in northwest Colorado.  Colorow was large sized.  He could also be belligerent.  He had signed a couple early treaties, but was passed over when the government searched for a more conciliatory chief with whom to negotiate the removal of the Utes from Colorado.  The Yampa were combined with the White River near Meeker, Colorado.  Troops were coming to the reservation and Colorow felt their intent was to forcibly remove them.  The negotiated a halt, but the troops came anyway and were ambushed.  At the same time the agency was attacked, workers killed and women taken captive.  As a punishment the White River Band was ordered to Utah.  Colorow changed his allegiance to the Uncompaghre.  However the too were removed.  In a show of defiance Colorow and his men charged the federal line as they prepared to leave. The federal strength convinced them to pull up short.  As allows in the 1873 agreement Colorow and his month would annually return to the Yampa River area to hunt.  Colorado passed a law saying all must abide by local laws, including game laws.  Game wardens met them.  Shots were fired and a squaw camp burned with hides.  Judge before reaching Utah they were caught by the wardens and locals and a pitched battle took place.  Colorow was wounded.  Troops from Fort Duchesne arrived to escort the Indians home.  Fifteen had been killed.  Colorow would die from his wound a year later.
Ouray was chief of the Uncompaghre Ute Band.  He was also chosen by the United States Government as being the lead person with whom to negotiate in terms of treaties.  The Uncompaghre generally lived in the mountains of central Colorado.  they would also venture onto the plains to hun buffalo.  They saw there territory decreased on a couple of occasions, but still held most of western Colorado.  However and incident occurred in which the White River Utes attacked the BIA agency and killed the agent and several worker.  They also kidnapped several women.  Ouray and the Uncompaghre were not involved.  In fact Ouray arranged for the return of the women.  For whatever reason, this incident put into play a move to remove all the Utes from Colorado.  Ouray negotiated with the government to make the best deal he could.  There was some hesitance on the Native American part because Ouray received a stipend for his efforts from the government.  A deal was struck to remove the Uncompaghre to Utah.  However signatures were needed to ratify the treaty.  After obtaining the signatures from his own band, he traveled to the Southern Band to get signatures, and died enroute, August 1880.  A negotiator bribed Utes for the remaining signatures and the Uncompaghre were removed to the Uintah Ouray Reservation in 1881.   Ouray never lived on the reservation that bears his name.
Ignacio was leader of the Southern Utea.  He was a member of the Wiminuche Ute Band.  They were a semi nomadic tribe, venturing into San Juan, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.  During several treaties their area was reduced.  they first accepted a large reservation in western Colorado, which was later reduced.  Gold had been found in the area.  They finally accepted a smaller reservation in southwestern Colorado.  Ignacio's father was a medicine man.  He was killed by a man's family he had been treating when he died.  Ignacio took revenge on the family, killing all twelve members.  The southern Utes recognized Ignacio as their leader and not Ouray.  Ouray deferred to Ignacio in matters dealing with the southern Utes.  When Ouray died Ignacio was recognized as the chief for the southern Utes by the government.  They were able to stay in Colorado.

The Relutant Immigrants of Utah: The Uncompahgre Utes

http://bwardlehistory.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-uncompagre-ute-indians.html
http://bwardlehistory.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-umpompahgre-utes-leading-to-their.html
This is the third in a series of articles about my father's thesis.  In the first two articles, we saw how the residents of Colorado, and the U.S. government slowly reduced the size of Ute Country.  However they had not gained their ultimate goal of expelling the Utes from Colorado.  The opportunity came with the Meeker Massacre in September 1879.  Nathan Meeker was the BIA superintendent over the White River Utes, and was very intent on forcing the Utes to farm.  He enlisted the help of the army.  The Utes ask that the army hold off and when they came anyway, the ambushed them.  Then a group when and attacked the agency, killing Meeker and others.  Some women and children were captured.  Ouray chastised the White River Utes for their actions, and insisted they return their captives, which they did.
This action however lead to renewed negotiations with regards to land.  The clamour of the population and governor of Colorado was that all Utes must leave.  A party went East, and thought they were giving away the mountains, not the valleys, of their land.  However the government insisted they gave away all their territory, and another place was to be found.  The treat specified the area around Grand Junction, unless not enough land could be found then they could also find land in Utah.  The agents who helped in finding an alternative sight of the Uncompahgre, were all supporters of Colorado.  They insisted there was not enough farm land in this area, and found an alternative location in Utah.  This is an area left alone by Mormon settlers, because the area was so arid and barren.  However the Ouray extension of the Uintah reservation was set aside for them.  The Uncompahgre were ordered to Utah.  "To the Uncompahgres the possibility of their being evicted from their homeland of ages was like a nightmare that surely must pass." (p 125)
After the Meeker incident, the Army was well positioned in Colorado.  They congregated close to the Uncompahgre reservations, six regiments and Calvary and nine of infantry.  Finally, in August of 1881 the order was given that the native population must leave.  They were given one day to decide if  they would leave peacefully or fight.  The reluctantly consented.
Agent Berry that the departure was "cheerful and happy."  However a local paper described the scene, "There can be no doubt that the very heart of the Ute was torn by his giving up and removal from the time-out-of-memory abiding place of their people.  The kissed and seeming endeavored to embrace the ground; they raised their hands and eyes filled with tears; in moaning prayers to the hills and sky; their words and hearts were burdened with sore lamentation and sorrow." (The Gunnison Review, Oct 1, 1881)
By the end of October the Uncompahgre were relocated.  Their new land was very poor, much worse the the White River Utes who instigated the Meeker Massacre.  The only means of survival was to leave the reservation and hunt as it was surrounded by mountain ranger on three sides.
The first treat by the u.s. government was in 1849.  Within a little more than thirty years, they had been removed from Colorado and lost all their land.  During this time they had also lost over half of their population to disease and encroachment.
My only desire with my dad's thesis is that he had talked more of the effects after the removal to Utah.

The Uncompahgre Utes: Leading to Their Forced Removal

This the second of three posts I am writing, using my Dad's thesis for material.  http://bwardlehistory.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-uncompagre-ute-indians.html
The Tabaguache (Uncompahgre) had very little contact with the American culture before 1858.  Kit Carson, who was Indian Agent for the Southern Utes, wrote this description:  They are by far the largest band of the Utahs.  Their main hunting grounds are within the limits of this territory [New Mexico].  They range from the Grand [Colorado] River [on the] West to the headwaters of the Del Norte [Rio Grande] [on the] East....They have never joined any of the bands of the Utahs that have waged war against the citizens of this territory.  I would respectfully suggest that and agent or sub-agent be appointed to reside among them.   They are by far the most noble of the Utah tribes.  They have not, as yet, been contaminated by intercourse with civilized man.
However in 1859 gold was discovered on Pikes Peak, and the Whites began to move into their area.  This resulted in an outbreak of hostilities on both sides.  "With this outbreak of hostilities Kit Carson changed his opinion of the Tabeguache, described them as 'wild and warlike,' recommended they be punished, and withheld supplies he was to deliver them."
In 1861 the Colorado Territory was formed.  In New Mexico the settlers encouraged trade with the Indians.  The attitude of Colorado was they had to be tolerated, and forced onto smaller and smaller parcels of land.
The original Ute territory covered all of the mountainous area of Colorado.  They also frequently left this area, to travel out into the plains to hunt buffalo.  However the same pattern happened over and over.  The Utes, usually through Chief Ouray, negotiated a treaty to cede land to the U.S. with promises of money and promises of protection from White incursion onto the property.  Whites would find some value to the property, agricultural or mineral, move onto the land.  The U.S. Army would threaten eviction if the settlers or miners didn't leave.  The encroachers would not leave, and so another negotiating round would take place.  Often times the agreed upon money would not be given, just enough subsistence to keep the Indians from starving.  Other ways of getting property from the Native Americans would be through surveying, and also by having other tribes cede property which didn't even pertain to them.  It didn't matter, once land was ceded it was never given back.
The last parcel, prime farm land, five mile square, called Uncompahre Park was promised to the Tabeguache.  At first it was surveyed smaller than it was originally.  Then White farmers moved in, as it was a prime place to raise crops for the mines, and finally a negotiation ceding the land for money which was never paid.  Eventually the cry changed from moving the Native population to smaller and smaller poor pieces of land, to "The Utes Must Go!"

The Uncompagre Ute Indians

I am using for my information the first three chapters of my Dad's thesis: Reluctant Immigrants of Utah: The Uncompahgre Utes.  My father is James W. Wardle and his thesis is available at the library at Utah State University.  These chapters talk about the history of the Utes, from their first beginning to their territory becoming part of the United States.  The traditional territory of the Uncompahgre was on the Utah, Colorado border and centrally located from North to South.  This area was close to the area of the Anasazi, and then the Fremont.  These groups coexisted for a time, and then ceased to exist about the same time, about 1300 A.D.  A lingering question for archeologist is to determine the cause of this extinction.
The first historical mention of the Utes was 1540 A.D. when they came in contact with Coronado's expedition to find the lost gold cities.  They were fist known as the Tabeguaches and later as the Uncompahgre.  Escalante documented them as being in the are of the confluence of the Dolores and Colorado rivers.  They were a desert nomadic people.  The Spaniards improved the lifestyle of the Tabeguache as they were introduced to the horse, and became more a Plains type Indian, hunting buffalo and living in teepees.  It also brought increased opportunities for trade.  They traded for horses, guns, needles and brandy.
No one is sure when they name of this group changed to Uncompahgre, nor the reason for the change.  During the early 1800s this area pertained to Spain, and then Mexico.  Early American explorations visited the area.  Lieutenant Zebulon Pike in 1806 visited the area, but was escorted by the Spanish to Chihuahua where he and his men were permitted to return to the United States.  American interest waned during the War of 1812.  However it picked up, and early explorers often met the same fate as Pike.  Over the years an American presence was allowed in the area with fur trappers and trading posts.  However it wasn't until the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that the relationship between this group of Native Americans and European settlers began to change.  This treaty signed in 1847, concluded the Mexican American War and this area became a part of the United States.